It was the oddest thing – just as I entered my car with the excitement of having just purchased 2 bags of donuts and donut holes from Stan’s Donut, I started my engine, the radio came on right away with some doctor being interviewed on NPR saying, “sugar is a toxin, and should be regulated, it the the major cause of diabetes, obesity, cancer …”, I was listening to that while I was still holding these bags in my other hand. I did not know whether it was a message telling me to immediately toss the poison out of the car, or to just give them away to anyone who were willing to take them. I did neither. In fact, I took one of the small white powdered donut hole and ate half of it.

After wanting to try the donuts here at Stan’s for quite some time, I made the trip to Westwood on this busy Tuesday around noon time. I had forgotten how difficult it was to drive and park in this area. After all, I had not been back to this area of town in years since my college days. The streets were crowded with more places offering outside seating than I remembered. I was fortunate enough to land a parking space close to the store.

The donut shop was inside the same shop as the Flame Broiler, so there was quite a bit of smoke fumes while I was standing and looking at all the donuts. I was wondering whether that might affect the taste of the donuts. The donut counter was small but packed with so many different varieties. After scrutinizing all the selections, I decided on the Plain Glazed, Cinnamon, Chocolate Sprinkles, Coconut, and various other ones, and some donut holes. My son pointed out  that the name “donut hole” is inappropriate since a hole is an opening, so there cannot be a hole and, at the same time, a donut.

The Plain glazed was the first to be tried upon arriving home. I was delighted to find the texture to be marvelously moist and soft, with a slight chewiness, and the sweetness of the glaze to be at just the perfect level. I tend to find that the glazed donut is usually the best tasting one amongst the so many different varieties offered in most donut shops. This was true for Stan’s as well. After tasting a bit of each of the others, I found most of them to be just sweet, without too much distinction from each other. Perhaps I was just tasting too many at the same time.

As with so many things in life, the end product is not always the most important, it is the journey. I had one of the most absorbing and memory evoking drive through Santa Monica and Westwood. Along with the delightful little treats, the much needed short and sweet excursion was enormously satisfying and fulfilling, and most important of all, it was FUN!

Stan’s Donuts: 10948 Weyburn Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90024  Phone: (310) 208-8660